LANSING – Chrysler is reportedly set to announce that it will repay $5.9 billion in loans to the U.S. government and American taxpayers. Chrysler’s good news comes on the heels of a report that Chrysler made its first quarterly profit since emerging from structured bankruptcy reorganization. Chrysler posted a 22.5% increase of sales in April compared to the same month last year and first quarter net income of $116 million, marking a remarkable turnaround for Chrysler and the domestic auto industry.

“This is a great sign for Chrysler communities across the state and another positive sign of the recovery of manufacturing here in Michigan,” said Michigan Democratic Party Chair Mark Brewer. “Though it was unpopular in many parts of the country, President Obama and Democrats did what was needed to save the more than 1.4 million jobs that the American auto industry supports. If the President hadn’t acted to prevent Chrysler and GM from shutting their doors permanently, the entire state could have seen further economic disaster.”

After receiving loan packages and emerging from structured bankruptcy reorganization, Chrysler and General Motors are both hiring again and operating at a profit. Right here in Michigan, more than 12,100 manufacturing and auto dealer jobs have been created in the last year.

In November of last year, General Motors’ initial public offering became the biggest in history, raising more than $20 billion. And the government has already recovered more than $23 billion of its investment in General Motors. And recently, General Motors employees were rewarded for their hard work with profit-sharing checks that averaged $4,300. Another 3,000 workers at GM Components Holdings received about $3,200.